1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to firearms and, in particular, to an accessory rail for use with firearms. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a firearm accessory rail and method of attaching the accessory rail to a firearm.
2. Background
In the field of armaments and firearms, various products and accessories are available for use with firearms. These accessories may include, for example, optical devices/scopes, illumination devices, range finders, laser devices, and various targeting aids. The variety of accessories available presents a user with different options from which to choose for various situations. A user may wish to use one kind of accessory with respect to one kind of objective or situation and may wish to use a different kind of accessory with a different objective or situation. For example, different kinds of scopes may be used in different conditions, light or dark, target shooting or field hunting. Thus, it is desired to provide a means by which a user may exchange accessories used with a firearm.
An accessory rail may be used with firearms in order to provide a means by which to attach various accessories to the firearm. For example, an accessory rail known as the Picatinny rail is described by Military Standard MIL-STD-1913. However, problems and issues are present with known accessory rails.
A popular firearm is the SKS assault rifle. The SKS is a firearm that originated in the Soviet Union; SKS is an acronym for Samozaryadnj Karabin sistemy Simonova, hereinafter SKS. The SKS has been manufactured in the millions both within the former Soviet Union and various licensee countries. The SKS is widely available in the United States as military surplus, and it is popular in the United States as a generally simple but robust assault rifle. Existing accessory rail systems do not function well with the SKS.
An accessory rail may suffer from a poor attachment to the firearm. Movement between the accessory rail and the firearm may cause an accessory, such as an optical device, to move out of alignment. Even a small movement of the accessory rail relative to firearm may cause the accuracy of the firearm to suffer. Firearms that are designed with high rates of discharge, such as a semiautomatic assault rifle, also suffer from movement of the accessory rail.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.